Ramp-up of New Products in International Manufacturing Networks: Exploring Coordination Challenges Based on a Multiple Case Study

Abstract

Shrinking product life cycles and increasing R&D costs force companies to launch new products to markets in ever shorter periods of time. Yet, this critically depends on a fast production ramp-up of the new products, which requires interdepartmental coordination of the R&D and manufacturing interface. Here, international manufacturing networks (IMN) cause new coordination challenges in global ramp-up management as it is also necessary to coordinate ramp-up time, costs, product quality, and quantity between the internationally dispersed and interdependent plants. This managerial problem is, however, mostly ignored by scientific literature. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore network-specific coordination challenges in global ramp-ups. Drawing on a multiple case study design, we use expert interviews and online-questionnaires to explore the importance of 16 challenges in regard to ramp-up success. Based on the in-depth analysis of three companies, we also show that the importance of these challenges can vary depending on the network configuration. Thereby, this study can help practitioners to develop a better understanding of their global ramp-up processes and improve future coordination activities.